Skydiving Robots

Abstract

Device, system, and method for Skydiving Robots™ which can skydive using customized or off-the-shelf parachutes and deliver civilian or military payloads. The Skydiving Robots can freefall, open the parachutes and steer toward the target, carry payloads, operate in the daytime or the pitch black at night using GPS guidance to land precisely. If they exited the plane at up to or over 30,000 feet above ground level (AGL) the final target could be miles away. They are the ideal reconnaissance scouts with a wide array of sensors such as cameras. They can carry payloads and precisely land within a few feet of a target.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for Skydiving Robots™ to skydive like humans using off-the-shelf or customized parachutes where the robots grasp the chute's toggles which open and then control the chute and then move their arms up and down like humans to turn, steer and land near the target, where the jump can begin at up to or over 30,000 feet above ground level (AGL) with a system comprising:
 human like hands for the robots to permit grasping the chute's toggles which open the chute and steer and operate the parachute and optionally to operate weapons for military missions; and 
 a Global Positioning Sensor (GPS) and other sensors including the implied wind speed, which tracks the skydive and indicates the Skydiving Robot's position relative to the target to permit the robot to steer and land near the target using arm and hand movements to control the chute's control toggles similar to a real skydiver where the chute's movement is controlled by a jumper moving their arms up and down which turns and controls and sets the speed of the parachute; and 
 a computer vision camera system which permits the robot to find and pull the toggle which opens the parachute and control toggles for the parachute and then guide the humanoid hand to grasp the toggle and simply pull it down and up with the robot's arm movements to steer, turn and control the chute's speed and flare and land and during emergencies find cutaway and pull the reserve parachute; and 
 use a technique during freefall called tracking, where skydivers change their body position to turn, or move horizontally, which can be practiced using a simulator and/or real jumps permitting robots to precisely land and if the robot, like a human, is in an aerodynamically stable position there is no horizontal movement however if the skydiver puts their arms next to their body and their legs together straight out like a guided missile, they could move up to or over 180 mph horizontally and up to or over 300 mph vertically. 
 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: the robot's ability to skydive, and carry civilian or military payloads, using military and civilian parachutes and handle over a dozen emergency situations which can occur in skydives including failure of the parachute where a cutaway is needed and the backup chute must be deployed where this capability is provided by the robots ability to use its robotics hands to grasp the toggles, to cutaway the primary chute and deploy the backup chute and the ability to use the robot's cameras to track and avoid collisions with other skydivers where this ability is programmed after simulations with teams of skydivers and the ability to choose alternative landing sites using its cameras to detect clear landing areas in case the primary site is deem unreachable and/or unsafe. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: a low-cost, low-bandwidth, long-rang digital radio or a network for real-time communications with the ground, other skydivers or with aircraft flying which provides continuously updated data for real-time 3D maps (either simulated or real) of personnel both in the air or on the ground, which is crucial in missions where their cell phone communications failed whereas this system can provide real-time tracking of a team to ensure the success of the mission where this data can be integrated into broader secure cell or other networks plus the option in GPS denied environments to guide the robot using alternatives such as Visual Aided Navigation, which includes cameras and maps, Celestial Navigation which tracks stars or Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and Inertial Measurement Units (IMU). 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein this data creates a virtual reality skydiving simulator with a headset, or without a headset which uses a display, which is continuously improved by a tracker database plus feedback from expert skydivers so that after missions the robot's movement and accuracy can be tracked and reviewed to continuously improve the capabilities of the skydiving robots. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: virtual reality headsets for immersion into a 3D world which is portable with just a PC, where some standalone headsets don't require PCs, and where the virtual 3D world could also be projected on screens, such as a TV or projector, to permit observers to see/evaluate the jumpers. and the where the headset or sensors track arm movements (which is how the jumper controls their turns and speed) and the user explores by simply turning your head for a unique trainer system which simulates round and ram-air chutes anywhere in the world and can inexpensively and compactly be used in planes while flying to their missions for teams of military or other skydivers, using deployment techniques such as High Altitude High Open (HAHO) jumps at altitudes of over 30,000 ft. and also night jumps. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: shared simulated flight data over a network either locally or remotely with the option to view night or day jumps and see and train over 12 jumpers with robots at the same time, which is a key requirement for elite units to practice close formations to avoid collisions and preform as a team which existing technology fails to address; and this technology cost-effectively permits teams of 12 or more jumpers to practice and immediately begin missions to train with the Skydiving Robots. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a control system where the human skydivers can override the Skydiving Robot's movements if plans change during a mission. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising the option to use existing robotics resupply systems to deploy the Skydiving Robots if a simpler deployment option is recommended based on the capabilities of the skydiving robot vision and grasping limitations where the Skydiving Robot would have to simply extricate itself from the resupply robot once it landed and the Skydiving Robot could continue its mission to scout ahead of human skydivers. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a computer vison camera system which permits the robot to find, and with the humanoid hand grasp a weapon and then to identify with vision and/or a network capabilities to identify friend or foe, and if foe, the grasping hand has aiming capability to fire weapons at the foe with multiple backup checks to confirm the only time the weapon is fired is when a vision and/or networked capabilities or combination thereof identifies friend or foe, robot or humans and also the ability of the robot to walk, knell, lay down like humans so it maintains the optimal defensive position while it fires a weapon or to avoid being hit by the enemy's weapons. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising the vision ability combined with the arm movement capability of the robot to steer away from other skydivers in the air which come closer than a set range and on landing to avoid objects such as trees. 
     
     
         11 . A method for Skydiving Robots to skydive like humans using off-the-shelf or customized parachutes where the robots have cameras which permit them to find and grasp the control toggles for parachutes and then move their arms and humans up and down like humans to control the toggles which operate the parachute allowing it to turn and glide and land near the target, where the jump can begin at up to or over 30,000 feet above ground level (AGL) and where the robots can land ahead of humans on skydives to scout ahead on the landing before the human skydivers land and the similar ability to find and grasp weapons and then aim and fire these weapons at the enemy. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: the ability of the skydiving robots to include a payload of explosives, i.e. bombs, which could explode on impact after the robot precisely landed where the bombs could weigh hundreds of pounds using parachutes and where these explosives could be placed in aerodynamically designed spaces in the robot's body and/or legs to ensure it glides at the maximum speed, while human special ops skydivers (Special Operators or Special Forces) often carry hundreds of pounds of supplies beneath them which reduces the parachute's speed, while the aerodynamically sleek robot could glide more rapidly over 30 miles from the exit point of the aircraft when deployed up to 25,000 feet or higher elevation, i.e. above sea level, and then precisely landing within feet of the target, ideally deployed under the cover of darkness to avoid enemy detection, and the additional option to land without detonation, and to act as a scout and them explode when the enemy comes to close, i.e. within 70 or more feet of the robot. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: the option to fly an aircraft deep behind enemy lines when deploying the skydiving robot so the robot could land hundreds or even thousands of miles behind enemy lines, covering literally every part of any country in the world and if the aircraft deploying the robot was an autonomous unmanned vehicle, no human would need to risk their lives in the mission of deploying the skydiving robot and if the skydiving robot was deployed in a HALO (high altitude—low opening) jump, the robot could exit the aircraft at up to or over 30,000 feet and then freefall at a terminal speed of up to or over 120 miles per hour and land within a few feet of the target in only 2 or 3 minutes, thereby becoming an extremely difficult target to shoot down. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: the option with networked Virtual Reality headsets which display a virtual 3D world and which track the movements of a jumper's arms and legs permit practicing simulated free falls for teams of humans and/or skydiving robots using either a wind tunnel or without the wind tunnel since the headset tracks their arm/leg movements whether they are floating horizontally in the wind tunnel or standing up permitting the jumpers to practice missions worldwide including HALO or HAHO jumps and continuing the simulation after the parachute opens tracking a complete mission from exiting the aircraft to landing where the virtual 3D world could also be projected on screens, such as a TV or projector, to permit observers to see/evaluate the jumpers. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising: the ability of skydiving robots or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to be deployed by aircraft or more effectively by weather type or others balloons launched, ideally at night, which can evade air defense systems which use missiles to destroy aircraft, where these balloons can carry payloads up to or over 8,000 lb., to altitudes up to or over 160.000 feet and use the jet streams, which have speeds of up to or over 200 mph, which usually flow from west to east, thereby permitting precise landings anywhere along jet streams worldwide where skydiving robots, which could be as small as or smaller than 5×2×1.5 ft., which are smaller than UAVs, powered or gliders, which are easier to shoot down and the robots would be aerodynamics designed to maximize speed like human skydiving speed record holders and freefall from up to or over 80.000 ft. reaching the target in minutes and during freefall use a technique called tracking, where skydivers change their body position to turn, or move horizontally, which can be practiced using a simulator and/or real jumps and if the robot, like a human, is in an aerodynamically stable position there is no horizontal movement however if the skydiver puts their arms next to their body and their legs together straight out like a guided missile, they could move up to or over 180 mph horizontally and up to or over 300 mph vertically and, if the mission was to crash an explosive into the target, a parachute would not be needed significantly reducing the cost and complexity of the robots, however a backup parachute with a standard Automatic Deployment Device (ADD) could be used in case of robotic freefall malfunctions and while wingsuits with horizontal speeds of up to or over 240 mph could be used, only retractable wings would permit holding at 0 mph horizontally which can help in pinpoint landings.